Preseason week 2 DFS

By Jen Ryan

There are ten games this weekend that will round out Week 2 of the preseason. Rosters have to be whittled down and teams are, at this point, very fluid leading up to next week’s dress rehearsal. We even saw a second-round pick from last year’s draft traded for guard. Anything can happen as rosters are being finalized which presents fun and interesting choices for daily fantasy. There is a player from each game that will be in at least one of my lineups this weekend.

New York Jets @ Washington Redskins

Rookie Charone Peake has a chance to surpass Jeremy Ross on the New York Jets’ depth chart this week. Both Peake and Ross saw four targets in their first preseason game but it was Peake who secured all four of them and scored a touchdown. Peake performed well with Geno Smith and will be called upon to do so again this week with the debut of Christian Hackenberg.

Miami Dolphins @ Dallas Cowboys

I am rolling out Darius Jackson of the Dallas Cowboys again this week. After only receiving 12 carries in Week 1 I think that number will increase quite a bit. The Cowboys need to determine if Darren McFadden will stick around for another season with them and McFadden’s fate is intertwined with Jackson at this point. I expect him to see near-bell cow carries to determine if he is the player to supplant the veteran on the depth chart.

Arizona Cardinals @ San Diego Chargers

I am a sucker for targets and no one had more in Week 1 than Jaxon Shipley who saw ten targets. His Cardinals’ teammate J.J. Nelson saw six targets. Of their combined 16 targets they were only able to haul in four of them. I will be off both this week and will instead chasing an Arizona running back. DeMarco Murray, Derrick Henry, and Bishop Sankey all scored touchdowns against the hapless Chargers defense last week. The Cardinals have a back field full of veterans with the exception of Elijhaa Penny, who was given a healthy 15 carries last week but did very little with them. I am rolling him out again due to the high probability of him not only seeing the bulk of the load but also hitting pay dirt.

Carolina Panthers @ Tennessee Titans

Joe Webb will have decent ownership this weekend and I will be one of those people playing the Panthers’ QB3. I think the Panthers will dial Derek Anderson back a bit and give Webb the majority of the snaps. What is fun about Webb is he is similar to Cam Newton in that he is a threat to run with the ball (the similarities end there). If Webb plays the whole second half he could see some garbage time scoring opportunities.

New York Giants @ Buffalo Bills

Digging deep here at the tight end position I am throwing Matt LaCosse of the New York Giants in more than one lineup this weekend. He is more of a GPP play and my reasoning is looking for a tight end who will be low-owned with touchdown potential. LaCosse fits the mold and at 6’6” he should be look at in the red zone.

Baltimore Ravens @ Indianapolis Colts

I am going to give Josh Ferguson another chance this week. To put it lightly, the chalk play of Week 1 was garbage, but the Colts as a whole did very little in the run game. Aging veteran Frank Gore will need a viable back up this season and the Colts need to determine who that back up will be. Ferguson is the most talented of the group and needs to prove that this weekend.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Jacksonville Jaguars

Between these two teams there was not a single player who saw more than five targets. Five is a fairly solid target share for the preseason, but both Bernard Reedy and Jonathan Krause did next to nothing for the Buccaneers with their five targets last week. While Allen Robinson was bullying Dee Millner last week it was easy to overlook Marqise Lee catching all four of his targets. Health has always been the issue with Lee, not his talent. I am looking for him to have a bigger game this weekend.

New Orleans Saints @ Houston Texans

I am all aboard the Michael Thomas hype train. I loved what I saw from the Saints’ rookie last weekend and cannot wait to see him in action this weekend. He will be one of my bigger cash game plays and I will be looking for him to get into the end zone.

San Francisco 49ers @ Denver Broncos

I am fading Cody Latimer this weekend in favor of Bennie Fowler this weekend. Both were heavily targeted with eight and seven looks respectively, but Latimer far out-produced Fowler. If Trevor Siemian, who gets the start this week, can swing the pendulum in Fowler’s direction it could pay off, as I anticipate most people rostering Latimer.

Kansas City Chiefs @ Los Angeles Rams

I have to recommend Nelson Spruce here, right? Maybe, but I am not. I am going back to Pharoh Cooper and despite his stat line full of zeros last weekend. I am chalking it up to rookie nerves in the hopes that the Rams feature Cooper heavily. He is a projected Week 1 starter and needs as much live action as he can get.

I learned my lesson last weekend about how important it is to really diversify lineups during the preseason. That will be a tricky task for tonight’s three game slate, but tomorrow presents an opportunity to create many individual lineups. The players I have mentioned are just one of a handful I will be rostering from each game.